Truth in Publishing - Part 1

Thinking of writing a book?  I certainly thought about it...a lot!  Four years ago while I sat in our rented apartment amidst the handful of furnishings we didn't sell on Craigslist I thought all the time...and then some.

Whether you're psyche transports you to a more fictional world – or whether you believe your truth of picking up dropped coins in the McDonalds drive thru to buy groceries might be inspiring – your brain won't let you sleep at night and your hands grasp for any piece of paper/napkin on which to write your words.  You are a writer and perhaps need the validation of becoming an author.

For 2 years I wrote my story.  My "narrator," as I call her, was speaking the truth.  Truth about my crash landing into motherhood, truth about being "grad school poor" and the truth about where my mind would wander.  I thought all the time about publishing, about writing the next "Eat, Pray, Love," and about validating my story.  I imagined myself standing in front of a crowd and reading pages from my bound and polished manuscript.  It was so real I could taste it.

I found a connection with the editor of the Sartell Newsleader whom I trusted to read my book (which I knew to be wonderful and horrific at the same time).  I paid $16 to MinuteMan press to have it all printed on paper and the weight of it was powerful.  I handed the 300 pages over to Dennis – who would be the first person to read my words.

"Anything is better than NOT publishing this," he said.  Despite the copious amounts of red pen I believed his words were true – because that's the kind of man he is.

Thus the seed was planted and the possibility became real.

I became a desperate seeker of information from local authors who inspired me.  I asked Mary Ludington who has a successful coffee table book "The Nature of Dogs,"  I asked Kent Nerburn and William Kent Krueger – both of whom I considered famous.  

I asked them the tough questions: Would you do it the same way if you were to start over?  What were you surprised about the publishing world?

I asked them questions that had no answers: Do you think I'll make it?  Will anyone read my book besides my mother?  Will they let me design my own cover?  Will they change my title?

I asked them tacky questions: How much money did you make?  What were your publishing contracts like?

They all had answers for me.  I was shocked how available these professional authors made themselves.

In an effort to practice brevity in my posts I will end it here...a cliff-hanger if you will...

Tune in to Part 2 to hear their advice and about where I turned next.

 - Jen

Manuscript photo credit: Elizabeth Compton Hegemann's Navaho Trading Days

---